


The Lake (Rick Grimes X Reader)

by MiyakoNanashi



Series: TWD IMAGINES (X READER) [3]
Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Cross-Posted on Wattpad, F/M, Gen, Inspired by The Walking Dead, No Sex, No Smut, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:22:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26108659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiyakoNanashi/pseuds/MiyakoNanashi
Summary: On a warm and difficult afternoon, in the middle of the summer, Rick and you found yourselves in the middle of a seemingly very simple mission, searching the areas and scouring the apartments, to make them safe and easily accessible should you find yourselves in danger, finding some safe haven almost certainly could make things easier. You spent almost half a day searching for those still fortified, with all the entrance doors firmly fixed and never forced or damaged, you especially sought those with a strong and resistant fence around the perimeter, so that you could defend yourselves in case walkers arrived to bother you.The last house was decidedly more difficult to raid and conquer, since a family lived inside it, unfortunately when you found them, the scene that was before you was gruesome and you tried to force yourself not to be weak.
Relationships: Rick Grimes & You, Rick Grimes/You
Series: TWD IMAGINES (X READER) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1895629
Kudos: 11





	The Lake (Rick Grimes X Reader)

The situation was not only complicated but almost impossible, since it was a child and her mother. The daughter was lying on the ground and hugged her mother very tightly to herself, the latter was transforming while the other tried to hide, unfortunately in a bad way, because of a bite on her arm. Death had decided to take her too. When you arrived Rick added nothing and didn't even ask himself why you both were there and looked at the eyes of the mother which he closed slowly.

Sometimes you were so tired that you didn't even want to talk. And that was how Rick and you felt, while in the late summer sun you were still trying to explore that area at your best. You tried to lend a hand if you could, you certainly didn't have the experience of man and maybe not even a lot of skills with weapons, but you knew how to make yourself useful and you imagined it was for that reason that Rick Grimes had wanted you with him for that mission.

Initially Rick still didn't add anything, he remained silent, not knowing how to fix the situation. But then he began to have a clear vision about his future move, the fog that appeared before his eyes for a few seconds, disappeared allowing him to understand how to get out of it.  
So he slowly passed a hand over the holster, situated on the side of his belt. In no time he would have pulled out the Colt Python and killed them both, without regret, but those qualities weren't part of him, at least not always, especially if it was a family to be literally exterminated.

"We can't do anything. Both were bitten."  
  
At that point he unbuttoned the holster to extract the revolver, but he didn't decide to shoot right away. He looked at you, didn't speak but with a nod he tried to make you understand that it would take only a moment.  
Cursed by that epidemic that had led you all to be inhuman. You knew that Rick was right and rationally and you agreed with him.  
But how could you kill a little girl?  
No, you couldn't have done it, you already knew.  
And Rick... How could he do that?  
From his eyes you realized that at least you had to look away from what was about to happen.  
He took her by the wrist, pulling gently, maybe he could check the size of the bite, maybe it wasn't really a bite.  
You imagined that he would resist, instead he suddenly broke away from the mother's corpse. She took Rick's hand and squeezed it, turning towards you and you were putting your hands over her ears.

"Don't worry.", you whispered to her even though you knew she couldn't hear it as you held her against you. 

"Cover them well."

Rick clearly referred to the girl's ears, noting that your hands tried to plug as much as possible of the annoying and sudden noise of the gunshot away. He aimed the latter towards the head of that woman, now lying lifeless on the ground, lacked in her transformation and he could prevent her from going through that. Rick certainly could not let her die twice. So after aiming, he didn't hesitate to place his forefinger on the trigger and then pulled it.  
Finally he looked back at the girl and you, the girl you were hugging was maybe only around 10 years old, she was just a child who should play with dolls in the normal world and go to school. Unfortunately, this privilege was taken away from her and yet there was no other solution than to end the suffering.

"I wish you'd go outside, there's a nice little lake beyond the road, I'm sure that you will like it."

You knelt down looking at the girl, then showed a slight smile to calm her but she trembled and couldn't look at you. Rick stepped aside and let you both out, he would have done it only a few minutes later, shooting her from behind, waiting for you to leave. He wanted the child to die looking at something beautiful.  
On one hand you knew that it was right and had to be done to prevent that child from becoming a walker, but on the other hand she was just a child...  
You picked her up to carry her near the door where you left her for a moment.

"Wait for me here okay? Then we'll go and see the lake, I promise.", you said with a half smile. You wanted to talk to Rick, maybe something could be done. Maybe...

You came back to him speaking in a very low voice.  
"Listen... Let's check the bite okay? Maybe it's just superficial or we can see if it's really a bite from a walker?", you were pleading, but you already knew the answer, rational and fair, but you couldn't think that Rick was condemning himself to this execution.  
You know put a hand on his arm to show him how bad you felt about it. You knew it was even more difficult for him, but you were hoping that maybe there could be a less bloody solution.

"There are no other ways. Once you got bitten, no matter how deep, the ending will always be the same..."

Rick looked down to not let you understand how much he was really suffering. He didn't have the courage to look you in the eye, you and that girl. He had to do it for her own good, without thinking of hurting her, otherwise he would never have made it.

"Don't make things more difficult, please. You know that there are no other solutions, let's just do it!"

Rick was right and you knew it. You could not go back by saying that you had allowed a soon transformed human being to live and you also could not allow that child to suffer the pain of mutation. So you nodded, also trying not to put the man in too much trouble. You could see that he was sick of it, he was also a father and you could bet he was thinking about his son, after all even Carl had been the age of that child at the moment.

You now looked at the child, you had to hurry. Then you took her hand and opened the door.

"Let's go see the lake, honey."

You walked with her, holding her hand. You wouldn't leave her alone for a moment, until the end.

Rick too walked out of the house to reach the little girl at the lake. Along the way he even had a tear running down his cheek which he wiped away immediately with one hand, with the other he held the gun tightly, ready to shoot. He arrived at the destination, behind her, only some meters away from her and didn't want her to notice him. Then came the moment, he looked at you, nodding, to make you walk away slowly from her, without being noticed too much. Then again he aimed the Colt Python at another head, but this time much smaller. At that point he took aim and noticed that the child in the meantime was enchanted by the charm of that little lake. In the distance she could even see ducks that fluttered along the other side.  
Rick breathed in and out deeply, closed his eyes, pressed the trigger, shooting the last bullet of the day, a bullet that pierced right through her head in a decisive manner, making it almost explode. Blood stains spilled from her hair, which from the luminous blond changed into a red not too lively, even tending to get black. She fell to the ground with her arms wide open and her eyes definitively closed, touched by the smell of grass that caressed her face and hands.

"I'm sorry...", was the only thing Rick could say at that moment, he couldn't add anything else since nothing else was to say. The silence succeeded, it even continued during the trip by the car, he couldn't even look you in the eye.

Neither of you were talking after what had happened. Indeed you could say that you had stopped talking the moment you opened the door and had accompanied that child to the place where she would have died for good. You knew Rick was suffering, he was probably as torn as you were, if not more. You had stayed close to the child, you had only moved a moment before Rick shot, but then you picked her up and brought her back to the house, near her mom's body.  
You hoped at least that now they could be together and in peace, away from all this horror that was surrounding you.

"Rick... I was thinking... Could I stay with your group? You know... It's been more than a year since all this started and I lived alone all this time. I understand that you all know me only since a few days but... Do you think... Do you think there could be a place for me? Even if it's not for long?"

You watched him as he drove concentrated on the road. You wanted to stay in a group, just for once, to be a part of something good.  
Rick was keeping his attention on the road, his hands firmly behind the wheel and when you began to speak he gave a slight sigh of relief, barely blinking. He couldn't have started a conversation with you now, after what you both had just been through.  
However, you asked him what He already expected for days, to join his group even for a certain time, to move to Alexandria because you didn't really own a house. You always just continued to change from refuge to refuge with the hope of being able to find a finally safe and fortified one but it wasn't so simple after all.  
Rick didn't turn around but cleared his throat, trying to keep a confident tone and finally he spoke.

"Sure...", he only said, nodding his head and then added: "As long as you feel comfortable with us. But yes, you can stay with us as long as you want."

It was done, after reiterating the risks she could run away, he agreed to accept you.

"You will stay with me for the night. Tomorrow I will try to find something better for you."

**Author's Note:**

> I do take requests for any TWD character & any ship.


End file.
